Best PlacesSpaulding, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spaulding, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Spaulding ranks 2,416th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spaulding
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Spaulding's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spaulding ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
Where Spaulding ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spaulding
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spaulding home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,377, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Spaulding's effective rate of 1.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Spaulding
Spaulding's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spaulding.
Who works in Spaulding, and how
Work in Spaulding centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Spaulding
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Spaulding.
What the weather is like in Spaulding, month by month
Spaulding sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Spaulding
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spaulding
Schools across Spaulding average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orient Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Creston Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creston Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Creston High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Orient-macksburg Senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spaulding school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spaulding measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Spaulding against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spaulding
Is Spaulding a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spaulding ranks 2,416th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, what local pay buys, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spaulding expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,276. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $105,377 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Spaulding safe?
Yes, Spaulding is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $149 per resident a year.
Compare Spaulding with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spaulding. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spaulding represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Spaulding detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spaulding: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spaulding: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spaulding: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spaulding: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spaulding detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.